Iron oxide encrustations, commonly known as rust or iron oxide scale, frequently form on ferrous metal surfaces. Such surface deposits are objectionable on ferrous articles which are scheduled to be refinished (e.g. sheet steel) and are particularly troublesome when located on the surfaces of tubing and other conduits (e.g., boiling tubing, heat exchangers, connecting piping, and the like) wherein the deposits can restrict flow and interfere with heat exchange.
Various methods of removing such surface deposits have been devised, a common one being to contact the ferrous surface with an aqueous acidic cleaning solution (e.g. aqueous HCl) and thereby dissolve and remove the iron oxide encrustations from the surface. An iron salt typically results from this operation, the specific salt depending upon the acidic cleaning medium used. E.g., FeCl.sub.3 and/or FeCl.sub.2 are formed when HCl is used.
Such iron salts are generally soluble to at least a limited extent in the cleaning media. Ferric ions thus result.
Corrosion of ferrous metal surfaces in contact with aqueous acids is known. It is also known that the presence of ferric ion causes severe corrosion problems of ferrous metal surfaces during the above mentioned acid cleaning process. Namely, the cleaning solution attacks (corrodes) the freshly cleaned metal surface with the attendant loss of metal. In the presence of oxygen, ferric ions are continually regenerated accentuating the problem.
Many compounds have been included as corrosion inhibitors in such cleaning solutions but their effectiveness in the presence of ferric ion is generally nonexistent or quite low.
Similarly, the corrosion of other common construction metals (and metal alloys) in contact with aqueous acid solution is a definite problem. E.g., in the above-mentioned process of cleaning ferrous metal surfaces with acid solutions, other metals may be present as an integral part of the system being cleaned (e.g. copper, copper alloys, zinc, zinc alloys, stainless steels, etc.), which may be similarly corroded.
It is therefore an object of this invention to inhibit the acid induced corrosion of metal surfaces, particularly ferrous and cuprous metal surfaces, in contact with aqueous acid solutions.
Another object of this invention is to inhibit acid induced corrosion of ferrous metal surfaces even in the presence of ferric ions.